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Flyers Get Gritty

What do you get when you cross the San Jose Sharks’ Brent Burns with the Montreal Canadiens’ Youppi?

You get the Philadelphia Flyers’ new mascot Gritty!

The new furry Flyer mascot was unveiled on Monday to become the 30th mascot in the NHL.

Remember when the Oilers introduced their new mascot Hunter? It was straight out of a horror film. However, Gritty may be the second part from that horror sequel.

The Flyers’ website described Gritty like this;His father was a "bully," so naturally he has some of those tendencies - talented but feisty, a fierce competitor, known for his agility given his size. He's loyal but mischievous; the ultimate Flyers fan who loves the orange and black but is unwelcoming to anyone who opposes his team. Legend has it he earned the name "Gritty" for possessing an attitude so similar to the team he follows.

He claims that he's been around for a lot longer than we know it, and recent construction at the Wells Fargo Center disturbed his secret hideout forcing him to show his face publicly for the first time. He has some oddities that are both humorous and strange. A number of times he's been caught eating snow straight from the Zamboni machine, and unbeknown to most, his love of hot dogs has been inflating the Flyers Dollar Dog Night consumption totals for years.

That being said, there's no denying that he's one of our own.

The reaction to Gritty has been mixed as fans around the league shared many hilarious comparisons after the reveal was made.

Gritty’s first NHL experience happened hours later when the Flyers hosted the Boston Bruins and he didn’t waste time making his first impression. During an intermission promotion, Gritty fired t-shirts into the crowd to Flyers fans when the newest Flyer started firing t-shirts at other Flyers employees.

The only reason we can think of him doing it is because moments earlier the same employees made fun of the googly eyed mascot wiping out multiple times during the promotion on the ice while firing the gun.

Not only that, but the Flyers faithful booed him multiple times throughout the night when he appeared.

I guess this was one of the worse debuts you can have in the NHL, hopefully things will get better for Gritty. If need be, they could send him down to the AHL for a conditioning stint.